Drillers clench spot in state tournament.
For the first time since their inception, the El Dorado Drillers are going to the Arkansas American Legion Junior State Tournament.
Chase Webb capped a five-run rally with a walk-off single, as the Drillers stunned Stuttgart 8-7 in the Arkansas American Legion Junior Zone 4 Tournament at the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex Tuesday night to advance.
The Drillers (9-13-1), who will be the No. 2 seed from Zone 4, will take on Jacksonville Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Hendrix College to open play in the state tournament.
“Most of the season has been come from behind,” Drillers coach Greg Harrison said of the victory. “We’ve had games where we’ve come back from four, five, seven runs down. This was something that we’ve seen all year. It’s something that our guys have become accustomed to.
“They have this drive and motivation that they don’t ever give up. It’s a seven-inning ballgame. We don’t just play for six innings and get our heads down. We keep fighting all the way until the end.
“Being down by five runs, a lot of people are going to count us out, but we kept fighting and kept driving and playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played when you’re playing from behind. They knew the situation. They executed and did what we asked.”
The Drillers trailed the entire game until Webb’s base hit completed the comeback.
It looked like there would be plenty of drama late with the Ricemen holding a 4-3 lead going to the sixth, but the visitors took advantage of two errors to score three runs with Seth Courtney’s two-run double to left serving as the big blow.
However, the Drillers began to chip away, scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Webb with two outs that scored Charles Hoof, who had led off the frame with a double of his own.
It was only the beginning for the Drillers.
In the seventh, pinch-hitter Tanner McLelland was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Baylor Brumley followed with a single to right to put runners at the corners, prompting a pitching change.
Carson Crawford was summoned to take over for Rhett Bohanan, who entered the game in the sixth after starter Dylan Moser allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings.
He allowed five hits, walked four and struck out eight
Reed Stone greeted the right-hander by lacing an RBI single to left to make it 7-4.
With runners at first and second and Hoof at the plate, a pair of wild pitches allowed Brumley to score and Stone to take third.
Hoof then hit a pop fly to shallow right-center that was dropped for an error and scored Stone to bring the Drillers within a run.
Hoof took second on a wild pitch with Jack Smith at the plate, and the Drillers’ first baseman later walked to put runners at first and second.
Christian Webb then came off the bench to pinch hit for Landen Rainwater, and a wild pitch advanced Hoof and Smith into scoring position.
With the winning run now in scoring position, Chase Brumley entered the game as a pinch runner for Smith.
Webb worked Crawford to a full count before drawing a walk, but a wild pitch on ball four allowed Hoof to score the tying run.
With runners at the corners, Chase Webb wasted little time in ending the game, as he hit Crawford’s 0-1 offering past a drawn-in infield and into left field to score Brumley with the game-winning run, touching off a celebration at home plate.
Webb went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in the win.
The Ricemen scored three runs in the second with two scoring on an error with two outs, but the Drillers chipped away with single runs in the second and third innings.
In the second, the Drillers used a leadoff single by Hoof along with walks to Webb and Jacob Eubanks to load the bases with two outs before Cody Lee was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Stone started the rally in the third by drawing a one-out walk and stealing second base.
One out later, Smith laced Moser’s 0-2 pitch into left field for an RBI single to bring the Drillers within 3-2.
The Ricemen got a run back in the fourth on an RBI single by Crawford to make it 4-2 before they extended their lead to 7-2 with their uprising in the sixth, but the visitors couldn’t finish off the Drillers.
After the rocky sixth inning, Rainwater worked the Drillers’ lone 1-2-3 inning of the game in the seventh to pick up the win. He struck out two, walked one and allowed one hit.
Tyler Martin allowed four runs in five innings of work. He allowed four hits, walked four, hit two batters and struck out seven.
In addition to Webb, Hoof went 2-for-4 with three runs scored for the Drillers, who had eight hits in the contest.
Gray Morgan was 2-for-4 for the Ricemen, who had five hits in the game.
With their spot in the state tournament clinched, Harrison is eager to see how the Drillers will fare against the state’s best competition.
“It’s anybody’s ballgame now,” Harrison said. “Out of 36 teams, we’re one of the top eight. We don’t know what we’ll be getting from other parts of the state, but we feel like we can compete with any of them.”